Overview:

In this three-hour webinar on the proper handling and processing of garnishments we will discuss the rules, regulations and requirements as they apply to withholding and paying child support, tax levies, creditor garnishments and others.

Why you should Attend: Part 1: The Rules and Regulations of Child Support To bring a national standard to child support withholding, the Federal government enacted laws that require states to adopt certain rules when setting their own standards for implementing child support requirements. These requirements include deadlines for withholding and remitting payments, filing procedures, and penalties and fines for violations.

However, states are free to set up their own rules and regulations if they fall within those guidelines and many do differ from the minimum federal requirements. Payroll departments must know both the federal laws and the state laws and must determine which one applies to the child support withholding order.

In addition to these laws and regulations, the federal rules now require that a standard Income Withholding Order (IWO) be used for all child support withholding garnishments. This webinar will review this form and its requirements. And although the IWO can include all the information necessary to comply with the order, employers must familiarize themselves with both federal and state regulations to avoid penalties and liabilities.

Withholding monies for child support is not the only requirement that applies to providing for a child, medical support orders are required to be process by payroll as well. And these orders have their own rules and regulations on both the federal and state level.

How to define child support garnishments

• The federal requirements a payroll department must know for child support
• How state requirements affect child support
• Specific requirements for child support, including deduction limits, deadlines, filing procedures, administrative fees, and penalties/fines for violations
• How to handle terminated employees regarding child support
• Which garnishment to take when an employee has current support orders, medical support orders, and arrearages
• In-depth discussion of the latest OCSE withholding notice

Part 2: The Laws Governing Tax Levies and Other Garnishments Tax levies and creditor garnishments can be some of the most complex tasks required of any payroll department. If garnishments are not handled correctly, you may find yourself facing situations that become extremely costly both financially and emotionally. Courts, federal and state regulations, bureaucracies, lawyers, and a multitude of other factors can complicate even the most basic procedures. Add in the emotional turmoil that often accompanies garnishment orders and even small errors can become major disasters.

All people and entities involved in tax levies and other types of creditor garnishments expect action from the payroll department. Payroll must understand all the laws that apply towards processing these types of garnishments backwards and forwards.

It is sometimes even up to the payroll department to catch and correct errors that have been made by someone else along the way! Precise and accurate compliance with garnishment regulation can help to reduce or eliminate the emotional and financial toll that can result from these unfortunate situations as well stave off any penalties that may result if processed incorrectly

• How to define the various types of tax levies and creditor garnishments
• The federal requirements a payroll department must know on each type of garnishment
• How state requirements affect garnishments
• How to handle terminated employees regarding garnishments
• What rules are followed when it comes to state tax levies-and it may not be the CCPA
• What to do with "payday loans" or what are known as voluntary wage assignments for creditors

Part 3: Garnishments: Best Practices to Follow and Getting the Math Right to Ensure Compliance Now we turn our attention to the best practices for processing garnishments within the payroll department. For example, how and when should payroll communicate with the employee concerning a garnishment? Should tracking reports be set up to ensure proper deductions and payments? These are just a few of the questions we will answer during this webinar.

In this section we will apply all that we learned in parts 1 and 2 by reviewing all types of examples of calculating garnishments. Now it is time to do the math! This will include how to prorate when an employee has two or more child support withholding orders and not enough disposable income to cover both; the proper calculations for a federal tax levy; what to do if the employee has a creditor garnishment and a child support withholding order and much, much more.

Areas Covered in the Session:

• Best practices for communicating with employees and issuing parties for all types of garnishments
• Best practices for responding to garnishments
• Best practices for processing garnishments in the payroll department
• Examples for calculating child support when the employee has one, two and more Withholding Orders with and without arrears
• Deducting the proper amounts for student loans and creditor garnishments
• Calculating the withholding for a federal tax levy
• Calculating the withholding for a creditor garnishment
• Examples of how to calculate the withholding and prioritize the order of distribution when an employee has more than one type of garnishment

Who Will Benefit:

• Payroll Executives/Managers/Administrators/Professionals/Practitioners/Entry Level Personnel
• Human Resources Executives/Managers/Administrators
• Accounting Personnel
• Business Owners/Executive Officers/Operations and Departmental Managers
• Lawmakers
• Attorneys/Legal Professionals
• Any individual or entity that must deal with the complexities and requirements of Payroll compliance issues